By: Ebenezer Adu-Gyamfi / Emmanuel for GhanaianNewsCanada 20/12026
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has raised alarm over escalating atrocities throughout Sudan’s Darfur region, describing a systematic campaign of violence that is spreading from town to town and inflicting severe suffering on civilians.
In a briefing to the United Nations Security Council, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said that the conflict part of Sudan’s broader civil war that began in April 2023 is marked by widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include mass executions, arbitrary detention, rape, ethnic targeting, and the digging of mass graves. Many of these acts, she noted, have been filmed and shared by the perpetrators themselves.
The warnings come in the wake of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) capturing El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. Following the city’s fall, evidence gathered through video, audio and satellite data suggests that crimes against civilians have intensified. According to the ICC, non-Arab communities in Darfur are being particularly targeted as part of what Ms. Khan described as an organized strategy of violence rather than isolated incidents.
Ms. Khan emphasized that atrocities are being repeated in town after town, warning that the pattern will continue “until this conflict, and the sense of impunity that fuels it, are stopped.” She urged Sudanese authorities to help enforce existing ICC arrest warrants for individuals suspected of orchestrating or facilitating these crimes.
A representative of Sudan’s mission to the UN, Ambassador Ammar Mohammed Mahmoud, acknowledged the violence but attributed some responsibility to external actors, suggesting that foreign support for armed groups had exacerbated the crisis. He called for investigations to extend to those who may have supported or colluded with the militias.
The ongoing conflict has created a dire humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and reports of repeated civilian abuses echoing earlier atrocities seen in Darfur’s history. International bodies, including the United Nations, have repeatedly documented and condemned human rights violations by both the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces, adding to global calls for accountability and an end to the violence.
